OUSTED House Speaker Jose de Venecia plans to form a new
political party once he is eased out of the ruling Lakas-CMD because of his
differences with President Arroyo over the anomalous national broadband network
deal with China.
Raul Lambino, De Venecia's lawyer, said the former House
leader is also considering joining a smaller party if he is removed as Lakas
president during its national directorate meeting on March 3. Lambino said they
are prepared to seek relief from the Commission on Elections if Lakas insists on
ousting De Venecia because they have not received a formal invitation to the
meeting or even a notice.
"We are prepared for any legal battle if and when they push
through with that meeting," he said, stressing that De Venecia has no plans of
resigning from the party despite having been ousted as Speaker.
Before he left for a speaking engagement in the United
Nations last Tuesday, De Venecia warned that Lakas would automatically lose its
international status if he is ousted as party president because he is also the
president of the Centrist Democrats International (CDI).
Lambino said it would be better for Lakas to wait for De
Venecia to return on March 6 and reset the national directorate meeting.
Rep. Matias Defensor (Lakas, Quezon City ), chair of the
committee on justice, has advised De Venecia to just leave Lakas to avoid
further humiliation. "When he was Speaker, JDV said GMA is the best president
the country has ever had. But when he was ousted, all of a sudden, she became
the worst president this country ever had. Way out," he told reporters,
laughing.
De Venecia has already sought the help of former President Fidel Ramos to
prevent the merger of the Lakas-CMD and the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi)
and "get rid of the evil forces that are now bedeviling" the ruling party.
- Wendell Vigilia
